NRI PULSE STAFF FEATURE
Atlanta, GA, March 23, 2025: An excerpt from Gloria Steinem’s 1995 book Moving Beyond Words was published in Gloria Foundation’s Substack on March 21, offering a reflective look at the profound impact India and one of its greatest women, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, had on her life. As Steinem writes, “When I reflect on the importance of India in my life, I think most of all of sitting on a New Delhi veranda in the 1970s, drinking tea with Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, whose first name was (and is) enough to identify her in many countries of the world.”
Steinem, a pioneering voice in the women’s rights movement, vividly describes her meeting with Kamaladevi, a freedom fighter, social reformer, and champion of the Indian handicraft movement. “Biographical dictionaries list her as ‘freedom fighter, social worker, writer.’ In the 1950s, when I first met her, she was also in her fifties and already a legend for her leading role in the Freedom Struggle with Gandhi and Nehru—an activism for which she spent five years in British jails—and for her pioneering of the Indian handicraft movement.”
Steinem and her friend Devaki Jain had approached Kamaladevi for advice on a Gandhian-feminist handbook, believing Gandhi’s nonviolent tactics could be applied to women’s movements globally. Kamaladevi’s response was both witty and revelatory: “Of course Gandhi’s tactics were suited to women—that’s where he learned them.” With this simple yet deep observation, she reminded them that nonviolence and resilience had long been embedded in women’s struggles, even before Gandhi popularized them. “It was a sudden understanding that made us all laugh; one more instance of history lost, and then being attracted to what once was ours.”
Although Steinem lost touch with Kamaladevi in later years, she remained deeply influenced by the lessons imparted over a simple cup of tea. Kamaladevi continued her work well into her eighties, traveling the world to support handicrafts and cultural preservation. She also remained a prolific writer, contributing to the documentation of history and social change. “I knew only that she had continued to travel the world into her eighties, helping other countries to preserve their creativity and culture in a handicraft industry, too, and also writing many books. But I always remembered this woman who taught us women’s history over a cup of tea, while continuing to make history herself.”
Kamaladevi passed away at the age of 85, on her way to deliver yet another speech. In a heartfelt tribute, Devaki Jain expressed her grief, calling Kamaladevi “a central support for realistic idealism” and describing how she had made cultural institutions essential, like “bread or water.” Her humility was exemplified in one of her last public appearances—when asked to light a ceremonial lamp on a raised platform, she refused, stating, “I have never gone on to a raised platform, it connotes hierarchy.” Instead, she lit the lamp from the back of the hall, to the delight of those seated in the last rows.
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay’s legacy endures as an inspiration to feminists, activists, and cultural preservationists worldwide. She has headed the National School of Drama and Sangeet Natak Akademi. In 1974, she was awarded the Sangeet Natak Academy Fellowship, the highest honor conferred by the Sangeet Natak Academy, India’s National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama.[1] She was conferred with Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan by Gthe overnment of India in 1955 and 1987 respectively. She is known as Hatkargha Maa for her work in the handloom sector.
Cover photos courtesy: Gloria’s Foundation and Wikipedia
